Former India player turned commentator Aakash Chopra has said that the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) might be one of the franchises interested in buying Shai Hope in the IPL 2027 auction. He added that Hope could open or bat at No. 3 for the franchise if Nicholas Pooran is released. He has been in swashbuckling form in the ongoing white-ball series between
India and the West Indies. He smashed two centuries in the three-match ODI series and has hit a fifty and a hundred in the first two games of the five-match T20I series as well.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel, ‘Aakash Chopra,’ he said, “He was with DC and used to get a chance to bat in the middle order. That is not his ideal number. I see him as an opener. Which franchise needs a keeper-opener? Since the Lucknow Super Giants have let Rishabh Pant go, and if Nicholas Pooran also leaves, say you want to trade Hardik Pandya, the Lucknow Super Giants could be a team.”

“He can keep, bat, and might get a chance to bat at the top of the order because they haven’t made (Aiden) Markram open consistently. So if Shai Hope can be seen at No. 3, or if Shai Hope opens and Markram comes at No. 3, if they try to make a setup like that, I see that as one place. Who apart from them? Then the Gujarat Titans came to mind. If the Gujarat Titans let Tom Banton go and bring in Shai Hope, Jos Buttler plays at No. 3, and he will become a No. 3 option. He might not get a place in the XI, but that is the second franchise I can think of that might have Shai Hope in mind,” he added.

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However, Aakash Chopra also stated that the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), and the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) might not be interested in acquiring Shai Hope as well.

“I didn’t get anything apart from them. Maybe as a replacement for Phil Salt, but then you will have to let Jordan Cox go, which you wouldn’t want. The guy bats down the order. So Bengaluru doesn’t need him. KKR have Tim Seifert and Finn Allen. So they also don’t need him. If you look at Chennai, they have Sanju Samson and Ruturaj Gaikwad as openers. So they won’t need him,” he said.

“The Rajasthan Royals have Yashasvi Jaiswal and Vaibhav Suryavanshi as openers, Dhruv Jurel comes at No. 3 as the keeper, and Riyan Parag is at No. 4. So they won’t need him either. Delhi already have two keepers. One doesn’t know whether KL Rahul or Rishabh Pant would keep. So they also don’t need him. Punjab might have needed him, but Ricky Ponting’s history shows he doesn’t play too many West Indies players. Mumbai Indians already have Ryan Rickelton and Quinton de Kock. The SunRisers Hyderabad have Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head as openers, and Ishan Kishan comes at No. 3. They have Heinrich Klaasen. Why would they need a keeper-batter?” he concluded.